Current Events

September 11, 2019 | Criminal Procedure & Due Process

Indiana Supreme Court to hear appeal of Gary man on death row for slaying his wife, two stepchildren

The Indiana Supreme Court will today hear the appeal of a former Gary man who was sentenced to death in 2013 after a jury convicted him in the Aug. 6, 2007, slaughter of his wife and two teenage stepchildren.

Lawyers for Kevin Isom, 53, claim his previous counsel was ineffective, and are asking the state to allow a new trial or, alternatively, a resentencing...

Judge Rules Terrorism Watchlist Violates Constitutional Rights

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a federal government database that compiles people deemed to be “known or suspected terrorists” violates the rights of American citizens who are on the watchlist, calling into question the constitutionality of a major tool the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security use for screening potential terrorism suspects...

California sues over Trump immigration policy on indefinite detention of migrant children

SACRAMENTO —

California opened another front in its legal battle with the Trump administration over immigration policies on Monday as officials announced a federal lawsuit challenging a new rule that allows indefinite detention of migrant children and their families...

Fired Policeman Can’t Sue Department After Settlement

DENVER (CN) — A former Utah police officer who shot and killed a woman in her car cannot resue the city that fired him — after it rehired him and settled — the 10th Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

“[Shaun] Cowley received all the process that the due process clause requires,” 10th Circuit Judge Joel M. Carson III wrote for the three-judge panel, upholding summary judgment for West Valley City...

NAIROBI/DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Britain and the United States urged Tanzania on Friday to guarantee due process of law for a journalist arrested on charges that his lawyer and rights groups called politically motivated.

Erick Kabendera was charged on Monday with money laundering, tax evasion and leading organized crime. He was arrested the previous week over what police said were issues concerning his citizenship...

‘Less Due Process Than People Get in Traffic Court’: ACLU Promises to Sue Trump Administration Over New Expedited Removal of Immigrants

The American Civil Liberties Union has vowed to sue the Trump administration over its latest plan to ramp up the deportation of undocumented immigrants by allowing authorities to remove an individual without a hearing before a judge...

Federal Judge Blocks Barr’s Attempt to Deny Asylum Seekers Bail

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday blocked an order by Attorney General William P. Barr that would have kept thousands of migrants detained indefinitely while waiting for their asylum cases to be decided.Judge Marsha J. Pechman of United States District Court for the Western District of Washington described the order, which would have denied some migrants a bail hearing, as unconstitutional. Under a preliminary injunction, Judge Pechman said migrants must be granted a bond hearing within seven days of a request or be released if they have not received a hearing in that time...

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. (WCJB)-- An appellate judge has found in favor of Matthew Pollard, who said he should not have to give up his phone password as part of a robbery investigation. The case stems from a 2018 incident in which Pollard was accused of robbing two people who thought they were meeting him for a drug deal...

The Supreme Court of Alaska ruled on Friday that Alaska’s sex offender registration statute violated the due process rights of out of state offenders by requiring them to register as sex offenders without allowing them to be heard...

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a Yemeni prisoner held without charge at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for more than 17 years.But Justice Stephen Breyer, in a two-page "statement" called attention to the case, declaring that it is "past time" to examine the indefinite detention of prisoners there."In my judgment," Breyer wrote, "it is past time to confront the difficult questions" left open...

A.O.C. Slams Pelosi’s Anti-Impeachment Argument as “Neglect of Due Process”

House Democrats' call to begin impeachment proceedings grew even louder Tuesday, as former White House counsel Don McGahn's refusal to testify before the House only intensified Democrats' argument that an impeachment inquiry may be the only way to break through the Trump administration's stonewalling...

Harvard University law professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. has withdrawn from the team of lawyers who will defend Harvey Weinstein in the former movie mogul's sexual assault trial, saying the case will conflict with his teaching responsibilities...

Illinois Legislators are Calling For Changes to a Law That Keeps People In Prison Without a Conviction

Illinois legislators are poised to take action against a little-known state law that allows alleged sex offenders to be imprisoned indefinitely without being convicted. Some of the inmates have been incarcerated for decades under the program...

TAMARAC, Fla. - Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony was visibly emotional Wednesday as he spoke in front of Tamarac city commissioners.During the commission meeting, Tony said he did not agree with the Broward State Attorney's Office dropping the charges against Delucca Rolle, 15, who is at the center of a rough arrest last week.He said his deputies still deserved their due process, whether they were right or wrong."I'm not here to speak in terms of politics. The community will get their justice deserved, and so will my deputies," Tony said...

Public universities under the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction have been on notice for seven months that they are required to provide an in-person hearing with cross-examination to students facing suspension or expulsion for sexual misconduct.Michigan State University is one of them. After all, the 6th Circuit decision last fall was against the University of Michigan, an hour away...

Complaint: El Paso Immigration Judges Violate Due Process

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — An immigration court in El Paso, Texas, that only approves a handful of the asylum cases it considers each year routinely violates due process, attorneys contend in an administrative complaint filed Wednesday.The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association claim in their joint complaint that the court at the El Paso Service Processing Center has arbitrary and unjust rules that decrease asylum-seekers' chances of staying in the country...

Lawyer: Judge’s 2nd Amendment rights violated by arrest

Syracuse, NY -- Everyone agrees that Rochester Judge Leticia Astacio went to Dick’s Sporting Goods a year ago today to buy a shotgun. After being denied, she tried at a different Dick’s.Now, Astacio -- since fired from her job -- is on trial this week for a felony gun charge, accused of illegally trying to buy a gun while on probation. She could face up to 7 years in prison if convicted by jury...

A Chicago law firm has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections alleging civil rights violations concerning the use of GPS monitoring for sex offenders — many of whom have completed their sentences and are not on any form of probation, parole or supervised release — and seeks an injunction to stop the state’s lifetime GPS monitoring program...

St. Louis NAACP Backs State Bill Providing Due Process To College Students

Gaskin was praising a bill in the Missouri State House that would provide due process protections for students accused of sexual assault, including the right to an attorney (at their expense) and the ability to cross-examine their accuser and the evidence and witnesses against them. The Associated Press reported the bill would also allow students to remove university officials overseeing procedures for a conflict of interest and keep schools from using terms like “victim” or “survivor” before any investigation has even taken place. Such words promote the presumption of guilt, supporters of the bill say....

House Majority Leader Garnett says red flag bill protects due process

DENVER – House Majority Leader Rep. Alec Garnett is defending the red flag bill he co-sponsored as multiple sheriffs and boards of county commissioners from Southern Colorado have come out in opposition to the legislation.

House Bill 1177 creates Extreme Risk Protection Orders which use the state court system to temporarily take away guns from someone believed to be a risk to themselves and others...

Red Flag Laws Seek To Balance Gun Safety With Due Process

When an attempt to carry out a gun removal in Maryland's Anne Arundel County left a man dead last November, opponents of the state's red flag law were incensed.

"Whatever you may think of red flag laws, they should not be death sentences. And they were in the case of Gary Willis," said Mark Pennak, an attorney and president of the gun rights organization Maryland Shall Issue...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Speed and traffic cameras in Cedar Rapids do not violate a constitutional right to due process, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

The high court upheld lower court rulings dismissing a class action lawsuit against the City of Cedar Rapids Speed Cameras. A group of drivers filed that lawsuit in 2018 claiming the cameras violate equal protection, due process and other clauses of the Iowa Constitution...

Congressman Slams Civil Forfeiture As ‘A Series Of Government Shakedowns’

Speaking at a panel on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sharply criticized the federal government’s use of civil forfeiture, which lets law enforcement confiscate property and pocket the proceeds for themselves, all without filing criminal charges.

“In this great country, the presumption of innocence has to be first and foremost,” Congressman Walberg said. “But with civil asset forfeiture, that’s not the case.”...

County liable for jailing woman 96 days without seeing judge

There are two remaining questions left for a Mississippi woman who sued over being jailed 96 days without seeing a judge: Will the U.S. Supreme Court get involved, and if not, how much will she get paid…